“Ugh, I’m so exhausted.”
“You managed to avoid failing English, right?”
“I don’t know…”
The four-day regular exams are finally over today. Phew, I’m tired.
The tense atmosphere in the class has dissipated, and some students are already making plans for after school.
“Kirishima-san! Wanna go somewhere?”
“How about karaoke?”
In fact, even next to me, Kirishima is being invited by the guys. But I feel like they’re a bit too enthusiastic. Witnessing that enthusiasm, I sense that Kirishima is also taken aback.
“Are you going to join them too?”
Come to think of it, Hoshino has hung out with them before. He gets along well with me for some reason, but he also has an overwhelming “sunny” personality.
“Nah, I need to level up in the game.”
“You’re still playing games at a time like this? Well, whatever.”
As expected, Hoshino remains unchanged. He’s quite a consistent guy. Although, truth be told, he’s ranked around 500th in the national rankings of that game.
“Well, I’m heading home.”
“Me too.”
In the end, we decided to go straight home. That’s probably the best choice for someone like me, who is more on the introverted side.
“Sorry, I have something to take care of today.”
“What? What’s the matter?”
“It’s something at home.”
“Can’t you do it tomorrow? Let’s hang out today.”
But listening to the conversations around me, I can’t help but think they’re being too desperate. Moreover, the ones inviting Kirishima are all handsome guys, like the captain of the basketball club. It’s understandable that Kirishima would face backlash from the girls.
But even though Kirishima hasn’t done anything wrong, doesn’t she find it unfair?
“Let’s go home…”
“Yeah.”
Hoshino must have started feeling uncomfortable too, as he urges us to leave. For some reason, I answered in Kansai dialect.
While heading home from school, I sent a message to Kirishima on a certain messaging app. I expressed my concern for her and assured her that I’m worried about her well-being.
A few minutes later, I received a response. She specified a meeting place near the station and sent me the meeting time. That means she wants me to pick her up.
Since there’s still plenty of time until the pick-up time, I decided to take care of various tasks. Specifically, general housework, bug fixing for my selfmade app, self-scoring the regular exams, and so on. There are countless things to do.
“Um, I guess this place will do.”
I arrived at the meeting place 10 minutes before the scheduled time. Acting ahead of time is common sense for working adults. Well, I’m still a high school student, though.
The meeting place is a plaza near the station. It’s currently the rush hour for people returning home, so there’s a lot of foot traffic. I can’t help but wonder if Kirishima will be able to spot me in this crowd as I observe my surroundings.
However, since I don’t have much else to do, I decide to sit around the fountain in the center of the plaza and pass the time with my smartphone.
“Ah!”
“Whoa! Ah, that startled me.”
I was almost in a zombie-like state, staring at my smartphone when suddenly I was hit with a loud voice from behind. The one who called out to me was Kirishima, but it was so sudden that I ended up shouting in public, which was completely out of character for me.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you wait long?”
“No, well…”
Kirishima looks at me with a teasing expression. However, I couldn’t help but show my anger at myself for shouting so loudly in the middle of the street.
Kirishima must have noticed that I was angry because she apologized with a remorseful expression.
“Sorry, I didn’t expect you to get so angry.”
“Just leave it at that. It’s really bad for my heart.”
“I didn’t expect you to get that angry.”
Kirishima looks quite dejected. Seeing her like that, I start to feel guilty too.
“Well, let’s just go home. What do you want for dinner? If we don’t have the ingredients, we can stop by the supermarket.”
“Then let’s have a salted pork rice bowl.”
“Ah, did we have pork?”
It seems Kirishima has also fallen in love with the charm of salted pork rice bowl. When your own preferences align with someone else’s, it feels somewhat satisfying or even fulfilling.
By the way, Kirishima is still in her school uniform. Technically, according to the school rules, detours are not allowed. But it seems like that rule has become somewhat superficial. However, since I’ve never had any reason to take a detour before, I can be seen as an exemplary student who strictly adheres to the rules.
“Hey, hey.”
While I’m lost in pointless thoughts, Kirishima, who is walking beside me, calls out to me.
“How did you do on the exams?”
“Well, it was… decent, I guess.”
“Hey, if ‘decent’ means you got a failing grade, I won’t forgive you, you know?”
Huh? What will you do to me if you don’t forgive me? It’s actually quite scary.
“Well, just kidding. We can go over the test questions later. I’ll help you.”
“I’m glad to have your help.”
“I owe you so much, Kouji. But why are you using honorifics?”
“Well, it’s just…”
Kirishima looks at me with a puzzled expression. Well, I’m really sorry. I still think Kirishima is an angel, but somehow I feel like there’s a demon lurking behind her… or something like that.